Strength and Challenges Faced by the Pre-University Students in Extended Writing in Malaysian University English Test (MUET)
Julinamary Parnabas1*, Alias Areff1, Hamidah Baharom1, Harbhajan Singh Kartar Singh1, Yushaiza Mohamad Yusop1
1 SMK King Edward VII, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.
*Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 September 2022 | Published: 1 October 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijares.2022.4.3.14
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Abstract: English is an international language used universally as a lingua franca among people from different cultures, ethnic and social backgrounds today. The Malaysian Ministry of Education has continuously emphasized on the importance of English with various efforts in many ways. However, recent studies conducted locally revealed that pre-university students are still facing difficulties in writing. Extended Writing is a major challenge faced by the pre- university students in Malaysian University English Test (MUET) as it carries the highest score of 60 marks. The pre-university students’ achievement for this section is definitely cause for concern. Thus, this qualitative study aims to explore the strength and challenges faced by the 16, Semester 2, pre–university students in scoring Task 2, Extended Writing in Paper 4, MUET in a selected premier secondary school in northern Perak. Data were triangulated based on research participants’ school trial examination score sheet, interview sessions and document analysis. Document analysis was done based on research participants’ essays in Extended Writing in the MUET School Trial Examination for Lower Pre–University 2022. The findings provide useful pedagogical implications for MUET teachers, syllabus designers, policy makers, module writers and reference book publishers. Understanding the pre-university students’ strength and difficulties aid in providing appropriate instructions, supporting programs and materials in writing essays in Extended Writing.
Keywords: Extended Writing, Malaysian University English Test (MUET), introduction, body, conclusion.
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1. Introduction
English is an international and official language of 53 countries and spoken by 1.75 billion people worldwide (Cynthia Yolanda Doss, Emily, Vasanthi Arasoo & Malachi Edwin Vethamani, 2022). English is used universally as a lingua franca among people from different cultures, ethnic and social backgrounds (Dewi, 2015).
The Malaysian Ministry of Education has continuously emphasized on the importance of English with various efforts and strategies in multilevel. In line with this, the ministry took an initiative by stressing the importance of English by introducing Malaysian University English Test (MUET) among the learners especially the pre-university students. In other words, the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) was introduced to enhance the students’ command of English in a holistic approach (Voon, Teo & Joyce Voon, 2019). The Malaysian
Examinations Council is responsible for MUET since 1999 (Malaysian Examinations Council, 2019a). Since 2014, the government has set a minimum MUET band requirement upon entering and graduating in local universities depending on the chosen courses (New Straits Time, 2016).
MUET is conducted three times a year, and can be taken by local and foreign students who intend to pursue their first-degree studies in public or private universities in Malaysia. MUET Session 1 usually will be held in March, MUET Session 2 in July and MUET Session 3 in November (Choo,Yee & Yeoh, 2022)
The MUET curriculum stresses the components of Listening (800/1), Speaking (800/2), Reading (800/3) and Writing (800/4). Table 1 shows the allocated scores, weightage and duration for each component.
Table 1: Weightage Allocated According to Components as well as the Overall Scoring Scheme
Papers Components Scores Weighting Duration Paper 1 (800/1) Listening 90 25% 50 minutes Paper 2 (800/2) Speaking 90 25% 30 minutes
Paper 3 (800/3) Reading 90 25% 75 minutes
Paper 4 (800/4) Writing 90 25% 75 minutes
Total 360 100% 230 minutes
Source: Malaysian Examinations Council. (2019a). 800 Malaysian University English Test (MUET) Regulations and Test Specifications.
Changes have been made to the assessment structure in MUET test specification involving Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing components in order to align it with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) effective 2021 (Audrey & Jane, 2021). This is to make sure that MUET is on par with other international English Proficiency Tests (Stephanie Jee & Azlina Aziz, 2021). Description of the aggregated score is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Description of Aggregated Score
Aggregated Score
Band CEFR Level
User The CEFR Global Scale Common Reference Levels
331-360 5+ C1+
Proficient *Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts and recognise implicit meaning.
*Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
*Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
* Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
294-330 5.0 C1
258-293 4.5 B2
211-257 4.0 Independent *Can understand the main ideas of
complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussion in his/her field of specialisation.
*Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
*Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
164-210 3.5 B1
*Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
*Can deal with most situation likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.
*Can produce simple connected text on topic which are familiar or of personal interest.
*Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
123-163 3.0
82-122 2.5 A2 Basic
*Can understand sentences and frequently used expression related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g., Very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
*Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
*Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate
environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
36-81 2.0
1-35 1.0
Source: Cynthia Yolanda Doss, Malachi Edwin Vethamani, Emily, N.G.K., & Vasanthi Arasoo. (2022).
Masterclass MUET- CEFR Aligned. Selangor: Sasbadi.
Scoring in writing seems to be a difficult task for most of the learners (Stephanie Jee & Azlina Aziz, 2021; Voon, Teo & Joyce Voon, 2019). Writing is a process where learners communication their ideas and thoughts in words to form sentences organised in paragraphs.
In MUET, there are two tasks in Paper 4 (800/4), Writing. The first task is Guided Writing on replying to letter or email with the allocation of 30 marks and the second task is on Extended
Writing with the allocation of 60 marks based on the new Examination Format (Malaysian Examinations Council, 2019b).
1.1 Extended Writing
Nunan (2003) describes writing as a work of formulating ideas and working out how to convey them through simple paragraphs and statements to the reader. Extended Writing consists of a communicative context with a statement. The pre-university students are required to write a discursive, argumentative or problem–solution essay of at least 250 words although there will be no explicit penalties for shorter or longer responses. The test takers are allocated with 50 minutes to complete this task (Malaysian Examinations Council, 2019b).
Discursive essay consists of a discussion on a particular topic. It provides an assessment of a particular topic and investigates an argument. It is written from the third person’s perspective (Choo, Yee & Yeoh, 2022). Argumentative essay involves convincing arguments to persuade the target audience to agree with the writer’s stand (Wingate, 2012). It presents both sides of an argument, but provides reasons or evidence to support the side of the argument that the writer is in favour. It must be presented with a clear stand and formal persuasive language (Choo, Yee & Yeoh, 2022). Problem solution essay requires the writer to discuss the given problem(s) and then provide solutions to the problem(s). It consists of arguments and evidence that support the writer’s proposed solution(s). The cause or the current state of the given problem(s) should be explained in the essay. The proposed solution(s) should be sensible and convincing (Choo, Yee & Yeoh, 2022).
A textual stimulus is provided in this task, in the form of a few sentences and statements, establishing the communicative context, the idea or problem for the test takers to respond to, and the formal genre expected. The stimulus contains between 40 to 80 words, excluding the standard rubrics (Malaysian Examinations Council, 2019b). Refer to figure 1 to view a sample Extended Writing Task.
Figure 1 : Sample Extended Writing Task
Source: Malaysian Examinations Council. (2019b). 800 Malaysian University English Test (MUET) Sample Questions.
Malaysian Examinations Council (2019a) too list out that each Extended Writing task should elicit some of the following language functions as
• discussing ideas and evaluating arguments or solutions to problems
• providing advice, reasons, opinions and justifications
• giving examples and supporting information
Task 2
You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this task.
You attended a talk by a famous fashion designer, which was recently organised during your school’s Career Week. The following comment was made by the guest speaker:
Fashion defines a person’s character.
Write an essay expressing your opinion on the statement. Write at least 250 words.
Writing is one of the essential basic language skill that is given a unique importance in higher institutions (Salem, 2013; Bulqiyah, Mahbub & Nugraheni, 2021). Thus, the focus of this research is on writing essay for Extended Writing in MUET.
1.2 Problem Statement
Recent studies conducted locally revealed that many pre-university students are still facing difficulties in writing. Extended Writing is a major challenge faced by the pre-university students in MUET (Stephanie Jee & Azlina Aziz, 2021).
A case study conducted by Stephanie Jee and Azlina Aziz (2021) in a Suburban Secondary School of Mukah District in Sarawak showed that 40% of the students in the class did not score well in their MUET writing especially in question 2, Extended Writing which carries 60% of the marks for Writing Paper (800/4). Most of the students were identified as band 1 and 2 scorers and their marks remain unchanged in trial 2. This is due to their low proficiency in English and they faced difficulties in transforming their ideas into written form.
Writing is not only vital in order to develop the pre-university students’ academic performance, but it also contributes to their social and emotional development. In Malaysia, English is widely used as a medium of instruction at the tertiary level (Gill, 2005). Thus, there is a great need to determine prospective students’ English language proficiency before stepping to university.
Moreover, in this competitive world, writing is one of the essential skills to secure a job in the future. Therefore, this issue needs to be tackled effectively.
1.3 Research Objectives
There are 2 research objectives in this study. This study is done to
1) explore the Semester 2 pre–university students’ strength in writing essay for Extended Writing in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) in a selected premier secondary school in northern Perak.
2) investigate the challenges faced by the Semester 2 pre–university students in writing essay for Extended Writing in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) in a selected premier secondary school in northern Perak.
1.4 Research Questions
There are 2 research questions in this study as presented below:
1) What are the Semester 2, pre–university students’ strength in writing essay for Extended Writing in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) in a selected premier secondary school in northern Perak?
2) What are the challenges faced by the Semester 2, pre–university students in writing essay for Extended Writing in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) in a selected premier secondary school in northern Perak?
2. Methodology
This is a qualitative study comprising 16, semester 2, pre-university students from a selected premier secondary school in northern Perak. Data were triangulated based on the students’
school trial examination score sheet, interview and document analysis.
The population of MUET candidates in this school is 83 students. Purposive sampling was done to select the research participants for this study by referring to the trial examination score sheet. Pre-university students with poor scores in Extended Writing in Paper 4, Writing (800/4) were selected to participate in this study. Document analyses was done by referring to the research participants’ essays for Task 2, Extended Writing in their School Trial Examination.
The essay question is shown in Figure 2. These students’ essays were analysed using thematic conceptual matrix. The essays were coded using pseudonym such as “PUS1” which refers to
“Pre-University Student 1” to affirm the confidentiality and anonymity. Ten pre-university students (PUS1, PUS2, PUS3, PUS4, PUS5, PUS6, PUS9, PUS11, PUS13 and PUS16) were selected and called for interview to investigate on their strength and constraints in achieving better scores for Task 2, Extended Writing.
Figure 2 : Extended Writing – MUET Trial Examination Lower Pre – University 2022 (800/4) Writing Source: Malaysian Examinations Council. (2022). MUET Writing, Paper 4 (800/4) Session 1/2022.
3. Findings and Discussion
The findings for this study are discussed by analysing the research participants’ strength and weaknesses in writing introduction, body and conclusion for essays in the Extended Writing.
3.1 Introduction
Research participants’ strength and weaknesses in writing introduction is discussed by referring to their ability to develop effective hook, thesis statement and stand in introduction for Extended Writing.
3.1.1 Hook
A hook is essentially a means of grabbing the attention of the reader in a creative way to generate interest in the topic and a desire to read the full essay (Audrey & Jane, 2021). An effective hook for extended writing can take several forms such as definition, surprising facts, statistic, narrative, questions, examples, quotations, proverbs, imagination and anecdote (Audrey & Jane, 2021; Cynthia Yolanda Doss, Malachi Edwin Vethamani, Emily & Vasanthi Arasoo, 2022). A simple hook will be a general statement which act as a simple opening.
Task 2
You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this task.
You have been asked by the school editorial board to write for the school bulletin. You have decided to write on the following topic:
Modernisation has robbed us of our peace of mind.
Write an essay stating your opinion on the above statement. Write at least 250 words.
(60 marks)
This study found that only 3 (18.75%) research participants namely PUS11, PUS12 and PUS14 were able to develop simple “hook” in their essays by providing ‘examples’. For instance, research participant PUS12 is able to provide some good examples such as “handphone, games and television” in the introduction with some minor language errors. Refer to Figure 3.
Figure 3: PUS12 is able to provide some examples in the introduction
None of these research participants were able to grab the attention of the reader in a creative way by using definition, surprising facts, statistic, narrative, questions, quotations, proverbs, imagination and anecdote in their introduction. Most of these research participants were only able to use general statement as their attention grabber in writing their introduction such as PUS3 shown in figure 4.
Figure 4: PUS3 used general statement as the attention grabber in the introduction
Research participant PUS3 claimed that she is unable to develop a good attention grabber for this essay as she is unable to locate the necessary vocabularies. She said that, “I cannot find the right word to say.. write…” Hence, lack of vocabulary act as the main challenge in pulling back the students from moving forward to produce a good attention grabber in writing their introduction. This is similar with the study conducted by Afzal (2019) in Prince Stattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU) in Saudi Arabia among 100 BA English undergraduates who faced several problems in learning the vocabulary such as knowing the meanings of new words, using new words correctly, memorizing and spelling new vocabularies.
Research participant PUS16 claimed that he is unable to put his thoughts into words. He claimed that, “I have ideas but have problem to translate and don’t know how to write in English.” Translating thoughts formulated in mother tongue to target language seems to be a very challenging task for PUS1, PUS2, PUS3 and PUS6 as well. This could take place as a result of lack of reading in the target language. If pre-university students are accustomed to reading, in order to enhance their experience and knowledge (Fatiloro, Adesola, Hameed &
Adewumi, 2017) in favour of locating the proper vocabulary and sentence structure. Therefore, reading habits play a major role in influencing pre-university students’ essay writing, as it requires them to be able to think critically, develop issues, provide responses, reasons, evidence
and opinions. It is the result of their knowledge on the topic obtained through reading habits (Ikhfi Imaniah, 2022).
It was discovered in this study that all the research participants interviewed agreed that they were able to understand the stem and stimulus given in the Extended Writing. They also agreed that it is essential to develop interesting hook to attract the attention of the readers.
3.1.2 Thesis statement
Thesis statement comprises one or two declarative sentences that summarise the main ideas of an essay (Choo, Yee & Yeoh, 2022; Ryan & Silvia, 2016). It is important for the thesis statement to be clear in order to remove any ambiguity on the purpose of writing the essay.
It was identified in this study that only 2 (12.5%) research participants were able to develop a complete thesis statement comprising 3 main ideas with some minor language errors. These research participants are PUS11 and PUS13 (shown in figure 5).
Figure 5: PUS 13 is able to develop thesis statement by providing 3 main ideas such as “social media influences”, “environmental pollution” and “historical places destruction”.
Although PUS11 and PUS13 were able to provide 3 main ideas in their thesis statement but it is evident that there are some grammatical errors detected in their writing. These 2 research participants too agreed that they “faced difficulties in using the correct grammar” in their sentence construction. Mastery of English sentence construction requires learners to understand the rules of sentence structure in English because the arrangement of language elements is different from mother tongue (Ikhfi Imaniah, 2022).
Descriptive research completed by Fitrawati and Dian Safitri (2021) with 30 second-year undergraduates in Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia too found that grammar act as the main hindrance in essay writing. Fitrawati and Dian Safitri detected 368 grammatical errors in their respondents’ essays.
However, these two research participants (PUS11 and PUS13) agreed that they could comprehend the topic which was assigned to them very well. Another 14 (87.5%) research participants were unable to develop proper thesis statement with the main ideas. A sample essay without proper thesis statement written by PUS1 is shown in figure 6.
Figure 6: PUS1 is unable to develop proper thesis statement
PUS1 is unable to develop a proper thesis statement for this essay. The main ideas are not presented in the thesis statement. This research participant agreed that she could actually understand the task assigned. PUS1 also claimed that she actually, “have all the points” but “I tertinggal (miss out) the langkah (step) writing my points in introduction” because “difficult to translate to English… cannot find the correct wordlaa.”
Thus, locating appropriate vocabularies in translating ideas formulated mentally in mother tongue into the written form in English act as one of the barrier in developing appropriate thesis statement in essay writing. In addition, the research participant also lacks of effective strategies in planning the essay draft and in constructing proper thesis statement to be included in the introduction. According to Maulidini Aulia Tasya (2022) planning in writing is effective in helping writers to keep on track while developing the essay, as it helps the writers to maintain focus on the main ideas. However, if students continue to write without proper planning or drafting out the main ideas in the thesis statement, then they would end getting a little lost in writing and miss out the essential elements in their essays.
The findings in this study are similar with the study conducted by Ryan and Silvia (2016) with 83 undergraduates in an English-medium university in Middle East. Ryan and Silvia found that writing thesis statement for essays, were a common challenge among the first-year undergraduates even in university.
3.1.3 Stand
Stand refers to the state of a claim made in an essay. It is a statement that support or oppose an argument in an essay.
This study brought to light that only 25% of the research participants were able to develop effective stand in their essays. It was identified that PUS5, PUS9, PUS11 and PUS13 were able to state a clear “stand” in their essays. Refer to figure 5 to view the stand made by PUS13. PUS 5 (shown in figure 7), PUS9 and PUS11 agreed that they were able to understand the importance of stating a very clear stand in their essays. However, PUS5 revealed that she was unable to, “make good sentence” due to poor language command. In other words, language proficiency hinders this research participant in developing error free stand in her introduction.
The finding in this study is similar with several studies conducted abroad which portray that poor language proficiency seems to be a common problem faced in writing even in higher institutions. A study conducted by Trisnaningrum, Alek and Hidayat (2019) in Indonesia with 42 college students enrolling on an online writing course also showed that these students faced several obstacles and difficulties in applying the appropriate grammar in their writing.
A study by Yulansari (2019) among the third-year undergraduates at FKIP Bung Hatta University too showed that 62.85% of the students faced difficulties in grammar, 57.14% in vocabulary, 60% in applying transition signal and 60% in mechanics in writing essays.
Figure 7: PUS5 able to state the “stand” with minor language errors.
This study too discovered that one research participant (PUS2) was able to write inappropriate stand in his introduction. According to PUS2, he was able to understand the question, but
“don’t know how to write my stand in English for this essay... difficult to translatelaa…” Refer to figure 8 to view the stand provided by PUS2.
Figure 8: PUS2 provided inappropriate “stand” for the introduction
It was evident that 11 (68.75%) research participants were unable to state any stand in their essays. They are PUS1, PUS3, PUS4, PUS6, PUS7, PUS8, PUS10, PUS12, PUS14, PUS15 and PUS16. According to PUS4, she is unable to state her stand as she claimed that she “…not so surelaa which stand must take …” as she is lack of the background knowledge pertaining to the topic. Refer to figure 9 to view the sample essay without any stand written by PUS4.
Hence, this study revealed that there is an obstacle in developing a clear stand when the research participants does not have much background knowledge regarding the essay topic.
The difficulties in developing a clear stand will influence the structure and flow of the essay.
Some ideas may not be connected logically. As for the difficulties in language features happened because of the lack of knowledge and practice in writing.
This finding is comparable with the findings obtained by Maulidini Aulia Tasya (2022) in Indonesia which showed that lack of knowledge related to the subject matter of the content to be written, and lack of effective strategies for planning or revising essays act as the main barrier in essay writing.
Figure 9: Research participant PUS4 were unable to state a clear stand
3.2 Body
Body paragraphs are typically built on the ideas postulated in the thesis statement. Each body paragraph needs to focus on a distinctive main idea which is introduced in a topic sentence followed by supporting sentences.
3.2.1 Topic Sentence
Topic sentences introduce a paragraph and connect to an essay's thesis statement. This study discovered that 8 (50%) research participants (PUS3, PUS8, PUS10, PUS11, PUS12, PUS13, PUS14 and PUS15) were able to construct relevant topic sentences. However, only 2 (12.5%) research participants were able to develop topic sentences in line with their thesis statement.
Refer to Figure 10 to view topic sentences developed by PUS13.
Figure 10: Research participant PUS13 is able to provide topic sentences and relevant supporting sentences.
Research participant PUS13 were able to provide main ideas presented in the topic sentences organised at the beginning of the paragraph. However, minor language errors are evident in these topic sentences.
The findings obtained in this study was found to be in contrast, with a study conducted in Indonesia by Evandreas Teguh, Endang Susilawati and Urai Salam (2014) among the masters’
candidates majoring in English Education Study Program. It was found that almost one-third paragraphs written by these masters’ candidates of the whole sample essays were left alone without any topic sentence.
3.2.2 Supporting Sentences
Supporting sentences provide information that explain, describe, give reasons, facts, examples and define the main ideas presented in topic sentences. This study found that 8 (50%) research participants (PUS3, PUS8, PUS10, PUS11, PUS12 and PUS13, PUS14, PUS15) were able to develop relevant supporting sentences to support the topic sentences. Refer to Figure 10 to view the relevant supporting sentences provide by PUS13.
It was also identified that another 8 (50%) research participants (PUS1, PUS2, PUS4, PUS5, PUS6, PUS7, PUS9, PUS16) were lack of ideas in providing facts, appropriate reasons and examples in writing effective supporting sentences. In addition, PUS1 and PUS16, claimed that applying accurate language in terms of “choosing appropriate vocabulary and grammar” act as one of the challenge in developing relevant supporting sentences in their essays.
The findings in this study too were found to be dissimilar with the research completed by Evandreas Teguh, Endang Susilawati and Urai Salam (2014) in Indonesia. Evandreas Teguh, Endang Susilawati and Urai Salam found that from 117, there are 52(43.7%) irrelevant supporting details provided in the academic essay writing by the masters’ candidates.
3.3 Writing Concluding paragraph
Conclusion is the final paragraph of the essay. Usually, the concluding paragraph should re- emphasize the thesis statement and summaries all the main ideas presented in the body paragraphs. In this study, 14 (87.5%) research participants were able to write conclusion by summarizing the main ideas and emphazing their stand as shown in Figure 11 by PUS15. Some research participants were also able to provide recommendation and suggestions in their conclusion. However, language errors repeatedly seem to be a major barrier in constructing good sentences.
Figure 11: Research participant PUS15 were able to write simple conclusion with some language errors
4. Conclusion
This research was conducted in order to identify the pre-university students’ strength and challenges in Extended Writing for MUET in a selected premier secondary school.
In a nutshell, only 18.75% research participants were able to develop simple hook in their essays and 12.5% research participants were able to develop a complete thesis statement
comprising 3 main ideas with some minor language errors. Another 87.5% of the research participants were unable to develop proper thesis statement. It was also discovered that only 25% of the research participants were able to develop effective stand in writing their introduction. This study too found that 50% of the research participants were able to develop effective topic sentences accompanied by appropriate supporting sentences, meanwhile 87.5%
research participants were able to write conclusion by summarising the main ideas and emphazing their stand.
Hence, writing effective conclusion for extended writing seems to be the strength of the pre- university students in this setting. However, these pre-university students still faced difficulties in developing creative hook, writing effective thesis statement and deciding on a clear stand for their essays. These is due to several reasons such as lack of vocabulary, difficulties in putting thoughts into words, difficulties in translating their thoughts from mother tongue into the target language, fail to plan or draft out the main ideas, lack of topical and grammatical knowledge.
Therefore, it is strongly recommended that teaching of grammar in isolation through various supporting programs aid to scaffold the poor scorers in their Zone of Proximal Development.
It is important to develop remedial modules as well to further enhance essay writing skills for the Extended Writing in MUET.
Inculcating reading habits in target language would enrich and widen the pre-university students content schemata as well as language schemata on topical, vocabulary and grammatical knowledge. Reading habits facilitate in shaping, developing, planning and creating new ideas. Thus, reading activities should be introduced through various supporting programs to enhance language learning and acquisition to aid writing skills.
In conclusion, the findings in this study provides significant insight for the pre-university academic teachers, policy makers, module writers, reference book publishers in producing relevant teaching and learning resources to scaffold by taking into consideration of the pre- university students’ strengths and challenges in writing for Extended Writing in MUET.
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